Pleasant Prince, a long shot, blew past Rail Trip to win the Pot O’ Luck Stakes
The 4-year-old Wesley Ward trained Pleasant Prince shell shocked his opponents and their connections, quite possibly his own connections as well, when he blew past the favoured Rail Trip to win the $58,800 Pot O’ Luck Stakes at Belmont Park on 15 September.
The son of Indy King, out of Archduchess by Pleasant Tap, Pleasant Prince defeated his rival, the son of Jump Start, Rail Trip, by a massive margin of 4 ½ lengths over a distance of 1 1/16 miles on dirt, under jockey E Trujillo.
Rail Trip was sent as the 3 to 5 favourite while Pleasant Prince was the 13 to 1 favourite.
In a field of 5, Rail Trip, under jockey R Dominguez, faced some pressure when he got into the lead and thenforth towed the field.
With Afleet Again scratched, the race was left with four runners. Colizeo was behind Rail Trip while he was leading and Cowboy came in fourth with Litigation Risk ahead of him.
Pleasant Prince had an excellent season when he was three years old, bagging big races like the Oklahoma Derby and the
Ohio Derby in his second season.
He was coming off a sixth place finish in the Grade 3 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park, over a distance of 1 1/8 miles on 20 August, 2011.
Pleasant Prince posted his second win of the season, the first one in an allowance race at Monmouth Park over 1 mile and 70 yards.
On the other hand, Rail Trip must be taking this race as a prep race for the all important Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.
He is a classy and dangerous veteran, who is so consistent that he can surprise everyone in the October 1st Belmont Park feature.
There he will meet Tizway, who is the leading handicapper in the division, but Rail Trip himself is also one big performance away from being right back near the top of the handicap division.
Rail Trip is a consistent fellow, and he will get back into his form, after he puts the Saratoga performance and the Pot O’ Luck performance in the rearview mirror and focus on what lies ahead.
Tags: